


And Break the Frozen Heart

by warblingaway (fallingthorns)



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Homeless, Alternative Meeting, Homeless!blaine, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-07 22:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingthorns/pseuds/warblingaway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaine’s used to being homeless, but when the cold drives him into a local diner, he stumbles across a man with a kind, warm heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Break the Frozen Heart

**Author's Note:**

> A homeless!Blaine AU inspired by both this horrible eternal freeze and when my sister, in her occasional wisdom, asked, “How are the homeless people staying warm?”

It’s cold.  That’s all Blaine can really think at the moment.

Blaine curls in tighter around himself, clutching his light, worn jacket closer.  He ducks his head against his chest and curls in, his legs coming up and blocking the wind from hitting his face. 

It’s so cold. There’s so much wind and snow and Blaine’s worried his pants might actually be frozen to the bench he’s sitting on, but he’s too cold to even move and find out.

He coughs a little, the warm air from it bouncing off of his legs and warming his face, just for a small instant before the terrible, terrible cold overwhelms him again.

It’s the coldest it’s been in New York in  _years,_ and really, Blaine isn’t surprised that he’s homeless during it.  The last winter was a struggle too, but not like this, not with everyone searching out the shelters instead of just toughing it out.  But Blaine – he thought about it too late, thinking it wouldn’t get that bad, and by the time he finally found a shelter, it was full.  As was the next, and the next, and the next.

It’s currently Blaine’s third day of sitting in Central Park, curled up around himself, keeping himself small as possible in order to retain as much heat as he can.

But the gloves aren’t even working at this point, he thinks.  It seems like they’re actually retaining the cold now, and his shoes have holes in the toes which, when he walks in the snow, fill with cold, cold moisture that leaves his toes cold for hours.

Blaine shivers again as another gust of wind blows past him, and on a whim, he decides that he needs to at least go warm up somewhere for a few hours.

Blaine slowly uncurls himself, wincing as he sets his feet down on the ground and realizes how close to numb they are.  There’s a diner around the area that he’s seen before from outside, but he’s never gone inside because he doesn’t exactly have the money to pay for anything.  But now, he’s sure that they can’t tell him to leave once they see how cold he is, especially given the weather outside.

Blaine slowly walks down the sidewalks, trying to avoid the obviously icy patches and still somehow slipping and almost falling at least four times.  He’s frustrated and he’s cold and he can’t feel his feet and  _god,_ he’s been living like this for so long and this is the worst he’s ever felt and no, no  _no no_ he can’t cry, not now, not in this freezing, terrible weather that will cause his tears to freeze to his face.

By the time he reaches the diner – Spotlight Diner, he realizes – he can’t feel his hands or his feet and his legs are sort of numb too. His cheeks and his nose burn, and when he tries to open the door his fingers ache around the handle.

Once the door is open, though, the warm air from inside blows into his face, and it’s such a contrast to the frigid outside air that it almost burns his eyes.  His face stings a little as he walks inside, weakly stomping his feet off on the mat inside the door before glancing around.

It’s not crowded, given that most people don’t really have any desire to venture outside of their warm homes in this kind of weather.  There are only one or two tables occupied, and then just a short, brown haired girl messing with the coffee machine behind the bar.

Blaine coughs again, his lungs slowly adjusting to the new, glorious temperature, and the girl glances up at him, her eyes widening when she sees him.  Blaine knows he looks, well,  _homeless,_ but that doesn’t make seeing others’ reactions to him any easier.

“Oh my goodness,” she says, setting down the coffee mug and rushing over to him.  “Welcome to the Spotlight Diner! Can I get you some coffee? Or soup? Or –”

“I don’t have any money,” Blaine says, cutting her off.  “I – I can’t afford anything, I just needed somewhere warm and this was the only place I could think of.  I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’ll go, I’m sorry.”

The girl pauses for a minute as he starts to turn around, bracing himself for the cold he’s only been away from for a few minutes.

“No, no it’s – it’s okay,” she says softly.  “I’ll pay for whatever you want.”

Blaine turns back around and looks at her.  “You don’t have to do that,” he says.  “I’m… I’m fine, I swear.  It’s not  _that_ bad out there.”

The girl gives him a look, and yeah, okay, it  _is_ that bad out there. 

“Nonsense,” she says.  “Come on, it’s warmer by the bar.”

Blaine follows her and sits down as she goes behind the counter.  “How do you take your coffee?” She asks. 

Blaine glances at her nametag then.   _Rachel,_ it says.

“Oh shoot, those two tables are mine,” Rachel mutters after a few moments.  “Just hang on,” she tells him.  “I’ve got to cover those tables, but I can –” She pauses before turning away from Blaine and shouting towards the back, “Kurt! Kurt I need you out here!”

“What is it this time Rachel?”A voice says from behind the doors.  “I told you not to call me if you run out of tea bags, I am not your personal delivery man and you are fully capable to go and get them from the back yourself.”

The doors are pushed open then and the man who comes out stops in his tracks and blinks at them for a moment.

The first thing Blaine notices is – well, his everything.  He’s around Blaine’s age and his hair is perfectly styled, his eyes are a mesmerizing blue, and the uniform is  _extremely_ flattering on him, exposing the width of his shoulders and just a hint of his chest revealed from underneath the unbuttoned buttons. 

“Uh, hi,” Kurt says, glancing at Rachel with wide eyes. 

“I promised him I’d give him whatever he wants for free, but I need you to serve him because those I’ve got to take care of those two tables,” Rachel tells him.  “Please?”

Kurt huffs and nods.  “Fine,” he says.  “But everything I give him is coming out of your paycheck.”

Rachel nods and scurries off, water pitcher in hand.

“So,” Kurt says after a few seconds.  “Do you have a name?”

Blaine has to pull himself away from just  _staring_ at Kurt, because god, he really is so incredibly gorgeous that it’s to the point of distracting.

“Uh, Blaine,” he answers.  “I’m Blaine.”

“I’m Kurt,” Kurt says with a soft, quick smile his way before turning back to the coffee machine.  “But you know that already.”

Blaine nods and glances down at his hands before slowly slipping off his worn gloves. He feels self-conscious about them and his appearance in general with Kurt standing all pristine and put together in front of him.

“How do you take it?”

Blaine glances up again and sees Kurt with a coffee mug in hand.  “Um, medium drip?” Blaine asks.

Kurt nods and starts to make it.  “Do you want anything else?” He asks after a few moments as he’s pouring the coffee into the mug.  “We have a few different varieties of soup, if you want something warm.  Which, if you don’t mind me saying, I think you  _need_ warm things.”

Blaine nods again and huffs out a soft laugh.  “Yeah, it’s – it’s really cold out there.”

Kurt nods again, and Blaine can tell he’s trying not to stare at him.  He’s used to it, he really is, but he’s not always used to strangers being this  _nice_ to him.

“How, um,” Kurt starts and pauses, and Blaine can see the faint blush coloring his cheeks.  “I’m not sure if it… right to ask this, but how long have you been out there?”

“Out there in general, or out there in the cold?”

“In the cold,” Kurt says after a brief pause. 

“Since it started I guess. All the shelters are either full or out of supplies,” Blaine says slowly as he takes a sip of the coffee.  “I guess that kind of answers your other question too.”

Kurt bites his lower lip and nods again.  “Okay, um. We have chicken noodle, cheddar broccoli, baked potato and bacon, and tomato.”

It takes Blaine a moment to realize that Kurt’s talking about soup.  “Oh, cheddar broccoli sounds fine,” Blaine says.  “Thank you, Kurt. Really.”

“It’s no problem,” Kurt says softly, looking at him again and smiling a little.  “I’ll be right back, I have to get the soup from the back.”

Blaine nods and looks down into his coffee.  It really is warm in here, but he can’t help but think how in a little bit he’s going to have to go back into the cold, and from what he’s seen and heard it’s supposed to get even  _colder_ tonight, and he really, really doesn’t feel like dying of hypothermia anytime soon.

“Okay, here,” Kurt’s voice says as a bowl of soup is set down in front of Blaine, followed by a plate with some salad and bread on it.  “You look like you could use a meal.”

Blaine thinks his mouth might be watering from the smell of the soup, he really is hungry, now that he thinks about it.  “I don’t need this,” Blaine forces himself to say.  “I – I really don’t, not if it’s coming out of her paycheck.”

“Blaine,” Kurt says, bending down a little so that he can look Blaine in the eye.  “It’s fine, I promise.”

“Okay,” he says slowly before lifting up the spoon.  As soon as the soup is in his mouth, Blaine has to hold in his moan because  _god,_ it’s so warm and creamy and good and  _warm._

“Oh my god,” he says, closing his eyes as he swallows the soup. 

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Kurt says.  “That’s my favorite soup.”

“It’s so  _warm,”_ Blaine says, out loud this time.  Kurt huffs out a laugh and starts to wipe the counter down with a towel.

“Do you, um, have a place to stay tonight?” Kurt asks after a few minutes.

“Uh, no,” Blaine answers slowly.  “There’s this bench that’s in a spot that minimizes wind though so … probably there.”

Kurt just looks at him for a minute, and Blaine sees something he’s only seen a few times before in his eyes – sympathy, he thinks is what it is.  Worry even, maybe.  But he doesn’t want to get his hopes up, because every time he does it somehow makes him feel like he’s even worse off than before.

Kurt quickly walks towards where Rachel is taking one of the table’s orders.  He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her to the side before whispering something at her with a determined expression on his face.

Rachel says something back, and her voice is slightly higher pitched in her response, like she’s getting worked up, but it’s not quite loud enough for Blaine to hear.

He wonders if they’re together – he thought Kurt maybe, possibly, might have been gay, but he could be wrong, especially given his limited interaction with other people.

Blaine glances back at them, and Kurt looks even more persistent now.  Rachel stomps her foot once and huffs before turning and walking into the backroom, dramatically pushing the doors open and he thinks he hears her muttering, “Santana better be on my side on this, I swear.”

Blaine puts another spoonful of soup into his mouth just as Kurt comes back behind the counter.  “Sorry about that,” he says.  “I was just … asking her something.”

Blaine nods again but doesn’t say anything, finishing up his soup and getting every last drop of it with his bread.

“Is this him?” Blaine hears another voice say.  He glances up and sees a girl with black hair walking out from the back.  “This the homeless kid Hummel wants to adopt?”

Blaine looks around with wide eyes, not knowing who this Hummel person is and really not liking how the new girl is looking at him.

“I don’t want to  _adopt_ him,” Kurt hisses at her, glancing at Blaine almost like he wishes he couldn’t hear him.  “I just – it’s so cold out Santana, and we have an extra couch, and –”

“Can I talk to you in the back, Kurt?” The girl, Santana, asks.  Kurt huffs and follows, leaving Blaine staring wide eyed at the door.

Blaine glances at Rachel, who’s standing off to the side with her arms crossed and a slight scowl on her face.

“It’s nothing against you, Blaine,” she says once she notices him looking at her.  “It’s just  . . we don’t know anything about you.  You could be a criminal for all we know, and –”

Blaine sighs and runs a hand through his hair.  He’s heard this all before, many times, but he doesn’t have time to tell her otherwise because Kurt comes out and glares at Rachel. 

“Rachel Berry,” Kurt says, “You will stop saying those kinds of things right now.”

Rachel stops talking and looks at him, then to Santana when she comes out of the door.  She raises her eyebrow at Santana in expectation, to which Santana shrugs and nods towards Kurt again.

“My shift is up,” she says.  “I’m on Hummel’s side though.”

Rachel huffs, but Blaine can tell it’s only really half-hearted.  He knows she’s only looking out for her friends, and that her concern is genuine.

“Blaine,” Kurt says, grabbing his coffee cup and starting to refill it.  “Do you want to come home with us tonight? You can sleep on our couch, we’ve got this really nice warm comforter and an endless supply of tea.”

Blaine looks at Kurt for a minute before glancing to Rachel and Santana, all three of them looking at him expectantly.

“I – I really don’t want to impose,” Blaine says slowly.  “You only just met me, I … really, you don’t have to do this.”

“We want to,” Rachel says, surprising Blaine a little since he was expecting Kurt to respond.  “We really want to.  It’s not safe out there for you – for anyone.  Just for a night, or longer. Whatever you want.”

Blaine glances at Santana, who nods, and then finally back at Kurt, who’s looking at him with expectant eyes.  “Okay,” he says tentatively after a few moments.  “Okay.  But just for a night.”

“Just for a night,” Kurt says softly before giving him a real, genuine smile.


End file.
